Searches were underway yesterday at Le Havre town hall and at the headquarters of the urban community, as part of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) targeting in particular former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. The investigation was opened in December 2023 after the filing of a complaint by the former deputy general director of the urban community and concerns suspicions of “illegal taking of interests, favoritism, embezzlement of public funds and moral harassment” . The complaint, filed in September 2023, targets the mayor Horizons of Le Havre and possible candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the deputy mayor in charge of innovation and digital Stéphanie de Bazelaire and the general director of urban community services Claire- Sophie Tasias. “The mayor, the elected officials and the teams of the city of Le Havre and the urban community (…) are entirely and calmly at the disposal of the prosecution to provide all the elements necessary for the investigation,” they said. they reacted. The investigation, entrusted to the anti-corruption office (Oclciff) and the Rouen judicial police, focuses on a mission entrusted to an association responsible for running the city’s Digital City.
In July 2020, Edouard Philippe, president of the urban community, signed with Ms. de Bazelaire, this time as volunteer president of the LH French Tech association, a multi-year agreement of objectives for the operation and animation of the Digital City. Lawyers from the urban community issued recommendations and alerts on the conflict of interest situation in which Ms. de Bazelaire found herself, according to Le Monde.
LH French Tech, created in July 2020, was designated for this mission after a call for expressions of interest launched by the urban community in March 2020 and as part of a service of general economic interest (SIEG).
The association, the only candidate, was to receive 2.154 million euros in public service compensation from the urban community to carry out the projects, recalls Le Monde.